Pendragon - The Soldiers Of Halla Part 27

"It's a good question," I said. "If this war is over, why are you building another army?"

Saint Dane walked to me and looked me in the eye. He was still taller than I was, but not by much. I wasn't threatened by his physical presence anymore. I didn't flinch.

"Because I can" was his simple, blunt answer. I chuckled.

"You find that amusing?" he asked.

I turned my back to him and faced Nevva. "See? Whatever lofty ideals this guy had, they are long gone. Now it's all about power. His power." I imitated him, saying, *"Because I can'! Ooh! What a bada.s.s!" I looked back to Saint Dane and scoffed. "Look at him. New hair. New face. Living in a palace. An outfit that makes him look like some goofy Disney princea"not that you know what that is, but trust me, it's a joke." I stood next to Elli and continued, "And he isn't above insulting a harmless lady like your mom. I don't know what kind of new Halla you think he's going to create, Nevva, but if you believe he's worried about anything more than elevating himself to some exalted position of power, you're dreaming."

Nevva looked unsure. For her, that was huge.

Elli must have seen it too. "There's still time, Nevva," she said. "You can still do the right thing."

"No!" Nevva snapped at her mother. "You don't have the right to say that. You gave that up a long time ago."

"Not because I wanted to," Elli replied. The words pained her. "I wasn't capable of raising you."

"But you're capable of jumping around Halla with the Travelers."

Elli dropped her head, as if embarra.s.sed. "It's what I was born to do."

"Really?" Nevva pressed, upset. "What about me? What was I born to do?"

Elli didn't have an answer. She looked defeated.

"I guess that's pretty much what we've been fighting over," I said. "Is our destiny chosen for us? Or do we have a choice in the matter? What do you think, Nevva? If you had to do it all over again, what choices would you make?"

Nevva was shaken up. Things weren't happening the way she expected. She whirled on Saint Dane. "What is the army for?" she demanded.

Saint Dane was back in control. His emotions were in check.

"You know as well as I. As do Pendragon and his kind. Let's drop the charade. The remaining exiles of Ravinia must be dealt with the way that was originally intended."

"No!" Nevva shouted. "We were to leave the territory untouched. Unspoiled. This is not the way!"

"No territory is unspoiled, Nevva," Saint Dane explained patiently. "I was willing to allow you your little experiment, but circ.u.mstances have changed. They should have died, Nevva. You know that as well as I. One day we will learn how that mistake occurred, but as of this moment all that matters is that we have located them, and now we must cleanse Halla of their influence."

Nevva was trembling. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

Saint Dane gave her a twisted smile. "Don't you agree?"

Nevva started to answer, but stopped herself. She dropped her eyes to the floor. In a small voice she said, "Of course."

That was it. Everything we feared was true. Saint Dane had found the exiles and was planning to wipe them out. There was only one piece of the puzzle still missing.

"Where are they?" I asked casually.

Saint Dane gave me a sly smile. "Oh? You don't know?"

Oops. I was kind of hoping that since we were going to "drop the charade," everything was out in the open. Guess not. Now Saint Dane knew that we still hadn't found the exiles. I had made a huge tactical blunder.

Saint Dane strolled toward Mark. "I do realize that in large part the situation we now face is of my own doing. I should have seen to it personally that the dissenters from Second Earth were properly handled. But mistakes happen, don't they, Pendragon?"

"You mean you should have personally killed them. Nice. Really glad to hear that you're planning on running your own universe. Should be a real fun place."

Saint Dane shrugged. My sarcasm was lost on him. "No matter. My lack of diligence has only prolonged the inevitable."

"You are just ghastly," Elli gasped.

Nevva kept her eyes on the floor.

Saint Dane continued, "And now I must decide what to do about our situation right here. I don't believe there is anything you can do to stop me, Pendragon. Yet there have been so many times in the past where you have surprised me." He raised a finger and wagged it at me playfully. "You are quite the resourceful young spirit."

I wanted to grab his bony finger and break it off.

"Of course you know that you and Elli can leave here at any time, if you're willing to use what little spirit is left of Solara. I feel confident that you won't."

"Really?" I asked defiantly. "Why's that?"

Saint Dane kicked aside the green blanket that had been covering an unconscious Mark.

"My good friend Mark Dimond. Strangely enough, Eve spent more time with him than anyone else in Halla. Even more than you, Pendragon. I've grown quite fond of Mark. Such a pity that I'll have to execute him."

"What!" I screamed.

I went for Saint Dane, but only got two steps closer before I felt strong hands holding me back. Two Ravinian guards had slipped into the room without my realizing it.

"He is part of an annoying group of guerrillas here on Third Earth," Saint Dane explained. "They've stolen weapons, food, even helicopters. Any one of those offenses is punishable by death."

"You can't kill him!" I shouted. I stopped worrying about appearing cool and in control.

Saint Dane looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. "And why not?"

"Because it's murder," I shot back. "And a and he was your friend! You may have been using him, but that didn't mean you didn't like each other. I know he liked you. Or Andy Mitch.e.l.l."

I was out of my mind. I was willing to pretend that Mark's friends.h.i.+p with Andy Mitch.e.l.l had positive sides to it, that's how desperate I was to save Mark.

I looked to Nevva. "Nevva? Tell me you don't have feelings for Mark. He's a good guy. h.e.l.l, he even fits the Ravinian profile. He's exceptional, isn't he? Geez, he's the father of the dados! He doesn't deserve to die."

Nevva looked at the unconscious Mark on the floor. I saw her soften. She did like Mark. I knew it. Who didn't?

"It isn't right," she said softly to Saint Dane. "Hasn't he suffered enough?"

Saint Dane walked to Nevva. He towered over her. She couldn't look him in the eye. Suddenly Saint Dane snapped out with his right hand and grabbed Nevva roughly by the neck.

Elli gasped. "Stop that!"

He didn't. She had pushed his b.u.t.tons one too many times. Saint Dane held her tight, lifting her chin so that their eyes met. He spoke in a low growl. "You either believe in the vision or you are no better than the dirt we've worked so hard to wash away. The choice is yours."

"Let her go!" Elli commanded, her voice cracking.

I saw the intensity of the look between Saint Dane and Nevva. They held it for a good long time. I was actually afraid he'd choke the life out of her, that's how long they stayed in that position. Finally Nevva blinked, and nodded in acceptance. Saint Dane let her go. Nevva tried hard not to gasp for breath. She was too proud to show that he had hurt her.

"I believe in the vision," she gasped. "I always have and always will. But I do have opinions and would appreciate the right to voice them."

"As do I," Saint Dane said, back in command. "And my opinion is that Mark Dimond is a rebel enemy of Ravinia and will be put to death."

Nevva shot him a look, but said nothing.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Saint Dane asked. Nevva shook her head.

"Good. Then you will be pleased to know that the honor of carrying out the execution will be yours, Nevva." Elli gasped.

Nevva barely reacted, but I saw her eyes go steely. "Tell me your opinion of that," Saint Dane demanded, taunting.

Nevva answered through clenched teeth. "It is my duty. I only ask that it happen as soon as possible so that he will not suffer."

Saint Dane scoffed, "And before you lose your nerve."

Nevva shot him a steely look. She was definitely back on her game. "Say what you will about me, but I have never lost my nerve."

They held eye contact a moment more. I could tell that Saint Dane was debating about how to respond.

"As you wish," he finally said, dismissing her remark.

He looked down at Mark and gave him a nudge with his foot. Mark stirred and grumbled.

Saint Dane smirked. "Good. I was beginning to think he was already dead." He turned to me and added, "Now, Pendragon. Will you be leaving us?"

I wanted to tear the guy's heart out, and I might have. If he had one.

Saint Dane laughed. "Of course you won't! You will remain here, hoping to find some way to save your friend." He motioned to the door.

Two more Ravinian guards entered.

"Take the rebel," he ordered, gesturing to Mark.

The guards lifted a barely conscious Mark to his feet and dragged him out of the room. Saint Dane glanced around as if looking to see if he'd forgotten anything.

"And so it will be," he said. "Make yourselves comfortable. We will reconvene at the execution."

"Which one?" I asked.

Saint Dane didn't know what I meant at first. He then smiled and wagged his finger at me. "Very good. I'm going to miss you, Pendragon."

He strode for the door, then stopped and turned to Nevva. "Come," he commanded, as if speaking to a dog.

Nevva straightened. The hard look was back. There was no hint of sympathy. Whatever second thoughts we had given her were gone. Nevva Winter was back to her old, cold self.

"I regret this," she said. "But I will not allow my personal feelings to prevent the creation of a new Halla. It is for the greater good. You of all people must understand that concept, Pendragon. Sacrifices must always be made."

"I do understand," I replied. "I just don't believe that Saint Dane's Halla will be good for anybody but himself."

"So you've told me," Nevva replied, sounding tired. She looked to Elli and offered her a quick, curt, "Good-bye, Mother."

She didn't wait for a response and strode for the door where Saint Dane waited.

"I love you, Nevva," Elli called after her.

Nevva hesitated for the shortest of moments, but didn't stop or turn back. She strode past Saint Dane and out the door.

Saint Dane snickered and gestured to the remaining dados. The two guards let go of me and followed Saint Dane out. The door was slammed behind them. I heard the sound of the lock being thrown. The two of us stood there, dazed. I put my arm around Elli. She buried her face in my shoulder and cried.

"I'm sorry I brought you back," I said, trying to console her. "It was a mistake."

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Exactly what Saint Dane expects us to do. We're going to save Mark."

Chapter 24.

Saint Dane knew what he was doing. As usual.

He knew I wouldn't leave if Mark was in trouble. In spite of what Nevva had asked for, I was sure he would play out this execution for as long as possible in order to keep us there. That was pretty clear. What wasn't clear was when he planned on launching his dado attack on the exiles. Or where. I figured the exiles had to be on Third Earth, because the flumes were destroyed and Saint Dane had no way of sending his army to any other territory. So then, where were they? Somewhere in the destroyed New York City?

The logistics made sense, but I tried to make sense of the exchange that Saint Dane and Nevva had about her "little experiment" and her wanting to leave the territory where the exiles landed "unspoiled." Third Earth had definitely been touched and wasn't even close to unspoiled. Did that mean the exiles were somewhere else? And what was Nevva's experiment? Even if we knew the answers to those questions, I had no idea how we could stop an army of dados. We could always go back to Solara and rally the rest of the Travelers, but even with the warriors among us, there was no way we could stop an army.

On top of everything else, my plan to have Elli try and get Nevva to see reason had backfired. All it did was upset Elli and put Mark in danger. I guess it's an understatement to say that things were looking bleak.

"Em sorry," I said to Elli. "Eve messed this up pretty badly."

Elli gently touched my cheek. "Your only fault is that you put too much faith in the power of someone's better nature to triumph. That is who you are, and it is exactly what you should have done. Unfortunately, Nevva's better nature is not what we hoped it would be. For that, I am the one who should be sorry."

"We all make our choices," I said quickly. "Nevva made hers."

Elli nodded, but I didn't think she bought it. "What has happened to Nevva is a reflection of what Saint Dane did to all of Halla. He took something good, and twisted it into something evil by appealing to a darker nature."

"And we couldn't untwist her," I added. "Which makes me question if Halla is too far gone to save."

"Don't think that way," Elli said quickly. "We may be near the end, but there is still hope. There is always hope."